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When he finished filling his saddle bag with acorns, he e of the hill and into the ed in the sky, the constant vivid lightningit easy to spot the trail in the dark The wind howled around hirit his teeth, plodding into the eye of the storm The stallion faltered with the strain of mud at its hooves A burned s the fallen acorns was like scouring the anchor He was certain of it Could a man really see into the future? Hoas it possible since it had not happened yet? Or was the future like a river, bound by rocky banks and flowing fro the pitch of the land, knowing the bounds, onethe course Was that it?
Another white blast of lightning scarred the sky, forcing Martin to shield his eyes But in the light, in thatMartin shook his head, trying to steer his stallion towards what he had seen It was the Prince, standing in theThat was not what Martin re in the sky
Another surge of lightning, another throaty roar of thunder The Prince stood in the e slab of boulder hovered in the air
"By Cheshu!" Martin swore, unable to believe what he saw He wiped the rain froh the blackness oncethe boulder slowly co down, as if it were hoisted in the arlohite In the flash that followed next, the boulder was firround Martin started The Prince had collapsed
He kicked the horse’s flanks and rode hard down the hillside to the valley The hooves churned and splashed up mud As he reached his master’s side, Martin shook himself out of his stirrups and came down The Prince’s face was ashen
"My lord!" He felt for the throb of his heartbeat and it was there, just a tre "My lord prince! Are you awake? Can you speak?"
The Prince’s eyes fluttered open He was exhausted "A little rest, Martin Then I will be well" His voice was barely a whisper
"I brought the acorns My saddlebag is full" He wiped rain from the Prince’s face The sky drenched them
"Scatter them," the Prince whispered "All around the stone"
"You want rih his teeth "Do it," he repeated "They will rerown Reirl you keep seeing? Who is she? Is it your bride? Is it Deer?"
A ser," he whispered "When is she not in danger? You must help…protect her, Martin Train her Evnissyen – she must be trained as one You must teach her to survive To live She will save…our people…fro wife in Daho his head against Martin’s arer pointing to the boulder thatflashed again, Martin saw the Leering carved into its face
It was the face of a young girl with rivulets of unruly hair
"I learned today that rande I had always believed she came as a learner at twelve My mother, however, did not study here because she was not the daughter of a king But , and the sister of one, and so by rights could study here The Aldermaston showed me her tome When sorant their toe which they contain My grandmother was married when she was nine years old to an Earl Hoful I felt for her Her first husband died when she was h he spawned a brood frorandain unless he was a ic She studied at Dochte Abbey and passed the maston test within her first year The Aldermaston said that worandmother fell in love with another earl – Sevrin Demont The Aldermaston said that at the tirand and that he wanted power through her But I have read her tome It is clear to et what she wanted I did not realize a woman could have so much power"